


Luke and Alex's mum cook up a storm

by alley_oops, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Luke Evans and Alex Skarsgard [145]
Category: Actor RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), True Blood RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:30:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alley_oops/pseuds/alley_oops, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica





	Luke and Alex's mum cook up a storm

  
**players only. backdated to Spring 2014. takes place after[Luke talks to his mum](http://alex-skarsgard.dreamwidth.org/4351.html) and [the boys ask a favour of Elin](http://alex-skarsgard.dreamwidth.org/4405.html).**

"It is many... It is very much, that I have bought," Gertrude Skarsgard corrects herself. She hands Luke a clean dish cloth and takes one for herself. "I asked Alex what it is that you wanted to cook, but he didn't know, so I just bought... everything," she tells him with a shrug and a sunny smile. "I hope today you will teach me to make dinner from Wales."

"Well, we don't have a lot of specialties," Luke says, smiling back, "but if it were later in the year, I'd have us make a lamb cawl, which is a kind of stew, and of course, there's Welsh rarebit, like cheesy toast, and lots of tea time stuff, breads and crempog, which are sort of like a fat pancake, but I think we should make some Glamorgan sausages." Now that Alex's mum is more used to his accent, he feels a lot more comfortable talking at close to his normal pace. "Some would say they're not really sausage because there's no meat in them but I think they're amazing anyway. The main ingredients are cheese, eggs and leeks. Do we have those?"

"Yes. Does it matter what kind of cheeses?" she asks, pulling open the refrigerator. "Why do they call them sausages if they don't have any meat in them?"

Luke laughs. "I'm not really sure, to be honest," he says, placing ingredients on the counter as she hands them over. "But they've been around for a long time. And we use a cheese called caerphilly but cheddar'll do. And if we have tomatoes, we can do a salad with red onion that tastes brilliant with them."

"Of course. We have fresh tomatoes," Gertrude says with a wave at the window, her garden beyond. "I went with Stellan to Thailand for a month and the girl in this neighborhood, I paid her to give water to everything. But only the tomatoes survived after her." She snickers and hands Luke a bundle of leeks from the refrigerator. She'd only bought them because she recalled some faint Welsh association; frankly, she's never been quite sure whether if the distinction between leeks and green onions really matters. "Does someone care for your garden while you are away from your home? The one Alex started?"

"Yes, there's this girl, a teenager, a few doors down and we pay her to water the garden and collect our mail," Luke says, going over the recipe in his head as they talk. "Oh, we need breadcrumbs. Do you have some?"

"We do have..." She turns away and reaches for a high cabinet over the refrigerator. "Do you want ones that are already with herbs? Or I can make some plain ones now."

"Plain ones are best, if you don't mind," Luke says, then asks, "Do any of Alex's siblings cook?"

"Of course. All my children know how to cook," she answers, pulling out a day-old loaf of bread to slice, and setting the oven's temperature on low. Glancing at Luke, she raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't Alex cook for you at all?"

"No," Luke admits with a soft laugh, unwilling to cover for his husband. "But I love cooking and to be fair, he does order in or take me out when I don't feel up to it or my schedule's too busy."

"Order in or take out?" She laughs, and slides the baking sheet of bread cubes into the oven. "He told me this is how Hollywood eats. I told him that he is lazy. You should at least make him wash the dishes."

"He does when I cook," Luke says, satisfied they have everything they need laid out before them, "and there's a dishwasher so it's only pots and pans really."

Gertrude smiles but shrugs, not entirely impressed with her son's behavior. "You have been very busy since the last time I saw you at the wedding," she says. "Talk to me about your activities."

"Mostly I've been in Ireland, shooting a new version of Dracula, and in New York getting ready to film a reboot of a movie called The Crow. I also did this miniseries for the BBC called The Great Train Robbery and I'm really proud of that." Luke smiles. "That's just work stuff though. I also met Alex at the South Pole after his walk and we've taken a few partial honeymoons."

"Oh, that's lovely! I'm glad you have been able to holiday together. He told me you went to meet him after his South Pole trip." Gertrude shakes her head in private opinion of _that_ whole shebang. "He was lucky," she says, following along with Luke as he directs her actions. "I read that Prince Harry got very very sick when they were skiing."

"Alex was fine health-wise but he said it was really isolating, even with the other team members right there," Luke says, drying the leeks and starting to shred them while Alex's mum chops the parsley and grates the cheese. "And of course, he was colder than he'd ever been."

She smiles. "He told me how much it hurt him, when he missed you so much. What about you?" Yes, she's angling. But she can do no less when it comes to one of her babies.

"It's the one part I hate about all of this," Luke says, meaning his career, their careers, acting. "Being separated from him. If I didn't love what I was doing so much, I'd probably quit just so I could always be with him."

Now Gertrude laughs, but there's no malice in it. She slips the toasted bread cubes from the oven and puts them into the grinder. "You don't think you would get tired of always being with him?"

"No." Luke shakes his head. "I'd find things to keep myself occupied wherever we were but it would be nice to end up in the same bed every night. End our days together."

Her smile softens, and she wipes her hands on a cloth before standing on her tip-toes to give Luke a hug. "It makes me so happy that you chose him," she tells her son-in-law.

He can't help it. In the face of such complete and utter acceptance, Luke tears up. "I'm glad you feel that way," he says, hugging her back, trying to keep his voice even, hoping she won't notice.

She gives him a quick squeeze. "And you make him better," she says as she steps back. "A mother cannot want more." Well, sure, there are grandchildren, but she hedged her bets on that one by having so many kids herself.

"Thank you. He makes me really happy," Luke says, averting his gaze, the thought that his own mother _could_ want more stabbing through him like a knife to the heart.

* * *

"God, that smells amazing," Alex says, tossing his jacket to the floor of the hall closet as he breezes into the house. He goes right to Luke and wraps his lover in an embrace, a kiss that says just how desperately he's missed Luke over the past two interminable hours.

Luke moans under the kiss, his knees going weak. "Um." Brain turned into jelly. "Hopefully it'll taste as good," he finally gets out, blushing just a little and giving Alex another, more chaste-like kiss.

"Like I care," Alex teases, because no way he is letting Luke off so easy. He tangles his fingers in his husband's hair and kisses him again, forcing Luke still while he plunders his mouth for a long charged moment. Then Alex finally lets his boy go, although he keeps a steadying arm around him. "Is dinner ready? Should I set the table?"

" _Ja, bör du. Och vara trevligt,_ " Gertrude interrupts, but Alex just snorts a laugh. Yeah right, like he's going to listen to his mother when she tells him to behave himself.

"What did she say?" Luke asks, slowly moving back to the counter to put the finishing touches on the fresh tomato salad.

"She told me to set the table," Alex answers with a mischievous shrug, and starts pulling plates from the breakfront. "She also scolded me that I need to be nicer to you."

"And not scramble my brain," Luke says, smiling back.

"I love your brain scrambled," Alex teases, then winces. "Oh man. Okay, that was maybe a little bit too Silence of the Lambs." Not that he can resist flicking his tongue over Luke's earlobe before heading into the dining room with a stack of dishes.

The contrast from this, where Alex's family is fine with their displays of affection, to the days they spent with his parents, where his dad didn't even want to take a picture of them together, is stark. It makes Luke sad and it makes him wonder if they're doing the right thing with only thinking about having one child. He's never minded being an only until now and who knows, maybe any sibling he would have had would have joined with his parents, but still. "Okay, that's done," he tells Alex's mum, handing over the salad. "And then we've got berries and ice cream for dessert, which is universal," he adds with a grin.

"Luke, what's the main dish?" Alex calls from the dining room, where he's now inspecting the small wine cabinet, only partially refrigerated. "I can't believe you haven't drunk this Lafite yet," he says to his father.

"The Lafite isn't ready yet," Stellan replies in a tone of mild protest.

"Christ, you're a snob," Alex mutters, which can only be the pot calling the kettle black.

"Glamorgan sausages," Luke calls back. "With tomato and red onion salad."

"What sausages?" Stellan murmurs.

"No fucking clue," Alex replies under his breath, selecting a crisp chilled Sauvignon Blanc and grabbing a corkscrew. "But if this goes wrong, we've always got beer."

"Are we close to being ready?" Luke asks, placing a well-oiled skillet on the stove to heat. "This is only going to take 10-15 minutes once I put the sausages on."

Alex's brother Janne pokes his head into the kitchen. "It's not ready? We're _starving!_ "

Gertrude frowns and swats him with a dishcloth. " _Du är en vuxen man!_ " she scolds, and points to the dining room. "Go help Alexander with the table." She gives Luke a smile tinged with exasperation. "Now is perfect."

Luke laughs. "Did you always want such a big family?" he asks, pulling the sausages from the fridge where they've been chilling. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I never thought that it would be quite this many," she admits, grinning. "The first four just... happened. Then I told Stellan I wanted to use my university and work. That's why my younger two are this much younger."

The front door slams. "We're here!" sounds a cheery voice from the foyer, and the sound of male greetings and laughter. A moment later Elin steps into the kitchen and she beams, giving Luke a kiss on each cheek. "We didn't scare you away last time! I'm so glad."

Luke grins. "I don't scare easily."

"Good thing," Alex says, overhearing them as he steps into the kitchen. He picks up the waiting bowl of salad and gives Luke a grin. "Otherwise, I'd vote we trade Christer out of the family and take you instead, except that might cause some marriage problems, legal-wise."

Luke laughs. It's on the tip of his tongue to say his parents would probably approve of the switch, but he quickly bites it back, returning his attention to the sausage, which are turning a nice golden colour.

It's a subtle change: Alex wouldn't even notice it if he weren't looking straight at Luke, and if he didn't know his lover so well. But that mischievous grin melts like ice cream in the sun, and the light in his eyes dampens in an instant. Alex resolves to ask his husband about it later.

"Those look very good. Very..." Gertrude frowns, irritated with herself for being unable to place the word. "Good for my appetite."

"Appetizing?" Alex suggests, and she nods, smiling up at him and reaching way way up to ruffle his hair.

"My boy. So smart," she teases, and he shrugs her off with a grin.

"Well, they're almost done," Luke says, turning them one final time. He smiles at them both and tells Alex, "Can you put the salad out and call everyone to the table?"

"Sure." Alex's gaze lingers on his husband a moment more, but then he turns away and gets to work, corralling everyone. He pulls a chair out for Luke when his husband comes into the dining room, seating him between himself and Elin's fourteen year-old son Greger – per the young man's request. Alex pours wine into glasses before he takes his own seat.

"Luke!" Stellan booms from the head of the table. "It is great to have you as our guest again. What took you so long?"

Luke grins, taking two sausages for himself and handing the platter off. "I've been working and your son's been keeping me busy the rest of the time."

Janne snickers and quickly covers his mouth with his hand to keep from spitting his wine onto his plate. Greger doesn't even bother trying to hide his laughter, and Elin shoots Janne a glare that promises vicious retaliation. "Yeah, I believe he keeps you busy. He was always a problem that way."

"Hey," Alex protests, and he might appear to be genuinely wounded, if not for the fact that he follows up by saying, "like you know anything about it. You were seventeen before you figured out how to unhook a bra, genius."

Elin rolls her eyes. "God's sake, you're both morons." At one end of the table, Gertrude opens her mouth as if to wade into the mix and referee, but then she just sighs and takes a big sip of wine.

Luke laughs, shaking his head as he helps himself to the salad and passes it on as well.

"All of my children make me proud, late bloomers or not," Stellan announces, letting his gaze linger on Janne before he, too, dissolves into laughter.

Elin leans in across the table to make sure Luke can hear her above the din. "Be glad you're an only child," she tells him. Then sits back in her chair and looks around before asking, "Have you told them your big news?"

Luke looks at his husband then at Elin. "No, I thought you or Alex would want to tell them."

Alex looks back at Luke, trying to gauge the expression on his face, before he begins, "Luke and I were thinking—"

"We're having a baby," Elin declares, and now Alex can only stare at his sister, for once shocked beyond words.

He's not the only one. Stellan and his wife send each other searching looks, and Janne tries to read Elin, wondering if it's her idea of a joke. "What does she mean," he mutters, "by 'we'?"

Taking a deep breath, Alex steels himself. "We've been thinking about—“

But Elin interrupts again, not satisfied with throwing merely _one_ grenade into the middle of the family meal, hell no. "Alex and Luke want a baby, so I'm going to get pregnant with Luke's sperm." In pride of place next to Luke, Greger grins and nods.

At least _he_ was prepared for this moment.

Alex half jumps out of his seat, not even sure whether he's going to try and shake answers out of his sister, or simplify and just go straight to throttling her. "You— What— Christ!"

Wide-eyed, Luke just stares at Elin. _What?_ His brain stuttering to a full halt.

She looks back, smug, and shrugs. She's well aware that she's got center stage and she's enjoying the hell out of it. "You said you needed to find someone to carry the baby."

"And you said you— parasite—" Alex sputters, yet to gain any grasp on the sudden turn of events.

"What's a parasite?" Greger asks, carefully repeating the unfamiliar English word. "Is that some kind of lobster?"

"Classy, dumbass," Elin growls at Alex, and gives him a swift kick under the table.

Gertrude's gaze keeps darting among her family members. "You're going to have Luke's baby?"

"She said she was going to give us her eggs," Luke explains, trying to smooth things over, still struggling to process it all himself. "For a surrogate. So our child could be related to Alex as well."

Now Gertrude presses her hand to her lips, her eyes beginning to water. "That's beautiful. I think this is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard."

Still reeling, Alex slowly relaxes back in his chair. He takes a large sip of wine, and then agrees. "It is, actually." He sends his sister a piercing look, and nods. "Thank you." Then he leans forward to peek around Luke at Greger. "And you? What do you think of this? You'll be getting a half-brother or half-sister, technically. Not just a cousin."

Greger shrugs, still grinning. "Yeah, Mom said. I think it's really cool."

_Oh my god_. Completely deflated now, and surrendering to it, Alex sits back again. And he gives Luke's hand a squeeze under the table.

Still stunned, Luke just sits there for a moment, squeezing back, before he finally says, "Thank you. Both of you," he adds, with a smile at Greger. "This means so much to us. And it'll make things so much easier in so many ways."

"Ha. For _you_ ," Elin retorts, and Alex fires up again in an instant, but her smile makes it clear she's just teasing. Mostly.

At the head of the table, Stellan spreads his arms wide. "I don't know what to say. But, congratulations! This is great news."

"Thank you," Luke says, leaning his head on Alex's shoulder. "And thank you again," he says to Elin, smiling. "I'll send you baking and bath salts and whatever else you want."

She laughs. "I will make you a list. A very long list."

"Oh god, now we're in for it," Alex mutters, but he keeps holding tight to Luke's hand. Sometimes surprises are actually okay with him.


End file.
